The Road of Tomorrow, Reel I (ca. 1940)

[Music] Pennsylvania Turnpike open big news of the day for motorists yourl reporter now brings you the story behind the headlines since our country is very beginning the Steep Ridges of the Appalachian Mountains have been a forbidding barrier against easy and Rapid transportation between the Middle Atlantic states in the middle west from the Indians and early Pioneers down to our modern Engineers all have sought an easier way to get through these mountains east of these Appalachian ranges lies Harrisburg capital of the beautiful state of Pennsylvania West lies Pittsburgh important center of a vast industrial area until late in 1940 motorists traveling between these cities have had a choice of two routes the long William Penn Highway swinging far to the North to avoid some of the mountain grades or the shorter Lincoln Highway twisting and climbing its way straight over the tops of the Steep ridges between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh the Lincoln Highway has carried millions of motorists but on it there are 950 Road and Street intersections and railroad crossings in every town stop lights protect cross traffic at the cost of inconvenience and delay to through traffic in populous districts narrow shoulders pedestrians telephone poles and signs create countless hazards to safe driving in the mountains are scores of sharp blind curves and grades as steep as 9% hazardous enough in summer extremely dangerous in Winter CAU behind slow moving trucks on Long grades thousands of motorists are tempted into illegal passing such driving is always dangerous frequently disastrous because of such dangers farsighted engineers and traffic experts have for many years dreamed of a new road through the Appalachians a shorter better safer Road eliminating steep grades by the use of tunnels but such a highway was only a dream until 1937 when the state legislature created a special commission authorized to finance and build the Pennsylvania Turnpike with a grant from pwa alone from the RFC the engineers of the newly created Turnpike Commission plunged into a gigantic task one of the biggest single Road building assignments in history thousands of drawings and blueprints were made from them a miniature model of the proposed Turnpike route was built illustrating clearly the Revolutionary features of the plan many years ago several tunnels were drilled through these mountains for a railroad which was never completed utilizing these abandoned tunnels as part of their plan Engineers designed designed the turnpike route to follow in general the old abandoned South pen railroad Not Over The Ridges but under them straight through the solid rock of one mountain after another notice how the Black Road at the right side of the model representing the Lincoln Highway twists and climbs steeply over every Ridge while the broad white Highway in the lower leftand corner of the model representing the proposed Pennsylvania Turnpike swings safely through the tunnels almost on the level completely free from sharp curves steep grades here indeed was a model for a dream Highway with plans Ed by the Turnpike Commission actual work was begun late in 1938 almost overnight the peaceful valleys and mountains of the turnpike route became one long Panorama of men and machines at work whole Mountain Side disappeared as though a Giant's knife had slashed them away into the turnpike job contractors threw 10 times the amount of equipment needed for the enormous Boulder Dam here's the beginning of a half mile cut through Clear Ridge largest Highway excavation in the United States required to remove more than a million cubic yards of material dynamiters drill deep into virgin Rock prepare to blast out enough fill to build another Mountain the Excavating of this one cut alone required the firing of more than 700,000 lb of explosives with completion of the $70 million project scheduled for less than 2 years a job that would normally take four years or more work had to be rushed simultaneously on every part of the r right way where former highways climbed up to meet the hills these excavators tear the hills down to meet the highway giving work to 20,000 men millions of dollars for labor millions of dollars for materials flow into circulation as America's number one tunneled super highway is carved from stubborn mountains that have impeded travel ever since the days of the Red Man Earth and rocks removed from the cuts are used to fill the valleys to carry the turnpike on grades as gentle as engineering efficiency make them rocks too big to be used for the fills are smashed up by Rock Breakers solid weights of Steel lifted High into the air and dropped with sharp shooting aim to smash the heaviest Boulders as though they were eggshells wherever a stream or river crosses the path of the turnpike a cul must be built before the fill is made when these are in giant grading machines standing almost on their heads start pulling the tops of The Ridges down into The Valleys to span streams and rivers a total of 139 brid had to be constructed ranging in size from 6ft culverts to the 600t New Stanton Viaduct which carries the turnpike over two highways a railroad and a creek because no other road is permitted to cross the turnpike on its own level 160 overpasses and underpasses are built by using special canvas walls for retention of heat work on these is rushed forward even in the dead of winter while thousands of men cut and fill the lower ridges other thousands bore their way deep underground to to Tunnel below the higher Peaks widening and completing the old tunnels of the South pen Railway abandoned more than 50 years ago one of these old tunnels was too far gone to be reclaimed and a completely new tunnel had to be drilled here at the right we can see the opening of the new tunnel only a few feet from the mouth of the old abandoned tunnel there at the left deep underground old walls are widened new tunnels are pushed deeper and deeper Under The Ridges modern safety methods protect the lives and health of workers where dust might be dangerous wet drilling is used not a single man on this job suffered from The Dread silicosis lung disease caused by Rock Laden dust big Power shovels nose their way foot by foot through the heart of the mountains to complete the boring of seven tunnels averaging almost a mile each in length every train load of Earth removed brings a bold project near to fulfillment brings nearer to reality America's Pioneer tunnel Highway a highway that goes not over the mountains but literally under them as weather permits grading of the road surface is pushed rapidly forward the turnpike requires a graded surface of 78 ft wide over its entire length not only through the gentle undulating farmlands of the valley but also through the deep ravines and rugged Contours of the mountains during the dry weather of spring and summer months Paving proceeds at record-breaking speed 28 contractors cover the entire length of the turnpike the world's biggest single Paving jum job more than 50 complete Paving outfits were used greatest concentration of equipment ever to work on a single Paving project as Lane after Lane of each contract is completed the amounts of paving material required climb into storybook figures in a single day these busy batch trucks dumped into the hungry jaws of the paving machines as much as 60 carloads of cement 8,500 tons of sand and 12,000 tons of crushed rock blending one cubic yard of material on each mix and dropping it between the steel molds the P moves ceaselessly forward mile after mile this work was once done by hand but with modern equipment the same number of men do a better job and do it faster every step is carried on at the same time as the mix is dumped the leveling machine quickly spreads it to fill the molds with modern equipment and methods and skilled workmen many records for Speed were broken during Paving of the 160 Mi of the turnpike as soon as the base course has been spread a net of Steel reinforc is laid at Peak production as much as 400 tons of reinforcing steel are used in a single day on top of the steel reinforcement the finishing mix is dumped one machine after another rolls steadily along behind the mixer and spreader leveling the finished Road into a smooth even surface which must pass the most severe engineering tests 9 in thick the pavement is strong enough to carry the heaviest loaded trucks at highest traveling Speed final finishing is done by hand notice the distance covered by this single Paving crew during the short time needed to photograph these pictures every step of the paving operation goes forward swiftly and simultaneously in dozens of other locations throughout the length of the turnpike here is an even faster operation with two mixers working together in spite of delays due to bad weather never before has any road building job in the world covered so great a distance with so much speed